Methu vadai ... aaaha the best thing ever. Love them a lot and not only just me but all in our family. Cant make it very often coz of its high-calorific values though ;) but festival and auspicious days are no excuse. Any auspicious day and vadai+payasam make their way into the kitchen menu.. Now that is good... nope veryyyyyy good as we can enjoy with an excuse at hand
I always make lots of them as I get to share them with my friends around and secondly we sure like leftovers of these - yes leftovers. We love dahi vadas/curd vadas. They are so yummy too and I make them all the time with the leftover vadas. So now you know why we need lots of them in the making
Every home has a warm welcome for these soft yet crispy textured fluffy fellas that has been in the traditional menu for ages now. This time I had a request from my friend asking for my secret recipe curious about how they turn out perfect every time. Oh no .. there is no secret as we all know and better fact - this is the easiest among things to do. Still she did not believe me and wanted me share the recipe with her. So here we go dear - A recipe shared just for you ;)
Nikhil, my elder kiddo has started liking soups these days. I noticed lately that whenever we are at a restaurant he makes sure he orders his soup first before any other of his favorites. He is usually a picky-eater like many other toddlers at this stage. I always have to think of new ways and hide-n-seek ways to give him few specific vegetable supplements. When i say hide-n-seek I mean I have to play white lies many a times to make him eat some veggies say - beetroot, spinach, beans, sweet potatoes and many more. Thinking of such ways sometimes give me wild ideas or sometime very simple ideas. Sometimes I mash some veggies and add them to chappathi dough, something mash it give a gravy consistency, sometimes deep-fry for an extra effect but this one here is a wonderful and healthy alternate if the kids like it.
This soup-liking story sparked my silly nutrition-seeking mind to take advantage of this nice little healthy like. Ideas flashed making my eyes sparkling bright and smile getting mischievous that I could feed them some more veggies easily. Nowadays it has been a regular habit to serve them 3-4 unadulterated soups a week, which is very good.
When I discussed this with my friends one day, I could see so many faces brightly lit that were sure many requests for a recipe forward. I could see that many mothers were really very happy to get this recipe getting into their kitchen tables right away. I had so many smiles that I had to post this with a smile on my face.
This is a very simple recipe .. of course fool-proof. Yes, I am sure you can never go wrong with it. Enjoy and let me know.
Couple of weeks back I tasted a Paneer recipe at a local restaurant that I felt was a little different from the usual ones. We all loved the recipe. I liked a specially different taste that it had. It was a little creamy, little sour, little spicy and something special which is beyond my guess. Guess what ??? I finished an extra portion of naan than I usually take which makes it clear that I was working on every mouthful a little extra to understand the recipe.
Yes you are thinking right now....my mind started working on guessing the ingredients and about making an attempt to recreate the typical taste which I liked though not the exact recipe. The recipe had capsicum and onion and some more stuff but I have it a little different. This recipe - my version calls for paneer and yellow capsicum as its main ingredients. For that extra creamy and silky gravy texture we would need poppy seeds and cashews. Hmmm .... a rich recipe to give a simple dinner gravy a tasty twist which will sure satiate your taste buds.
To my happiness, the first attempt to this recipe has been a real success. I got to share this with a couple of my friends and 'they + family' have liked it... nope I am sorry they have not like it but they have loved it. At my home all of us have enjoyed. My elder kid, a paneer lover gave me a thumbs up and giant hug for my yummy trial and my little one loved it too. The recipe was perfect except that I want to change a few steps and try again this week. I am planning to alter the steps when making the gravy to make the cooking faster. I was thinking to post both styles together but a friend of mine is planning to try this recipe over the weekend so couldnt wait. Anyways I will try that too and update again. Check out this recipe and let me know your comments.
Pongal is a harvest festival celebrated all across South India especially in Tamil Nadu. A beautiful way to thank Sun God for his blessings on the new harvest. The beautifully decorated home entrances filled with colorful kolams and rangolis, the juicy sweet sugarcanes, the harmonious sound of bells ringing in everyones house indicating their prayers, people wishing each other 'Happy Pongal' , children n everyone enjoying their new outfits and the sweetest Pongal to eat are the best descibed events to be quoted about this festival as I have witnessed it from my childhood. A festival that brings a sense of happiness and togetherness.
In my Grandmas time, they used to do this outside the house in the frontyard welcoming the Sun God. She used to put bricks and rocks around to make a small stove-kind and burn small pieces of wood. Brass pots were used to boil milk and make pongal. Now things have changed and we have started making pongal inside the house and also in cooker rather than brass pots :) How things have changed :) But am planning to follow thw tradition in the coming years... atleast will try to
I have already shared my mil's version some time back. My mom makes sakkarai pongal a little different than her - without moong dal and now I have also started liking this version too. This version stays fresh longer than the moong dal version and also moong dal version tends to be more sticky that purely rice version. There can be many a reason for each tasting sweeter in its own way. Both taste awesome :) Here is my moms version that I have been following for quite a while now and it is fool-proof... which is good :)
Potato wedges, smileys, french fries ... name any such junk and kids are sure to love it. Its not a problem with the kids but it a problem with mother nature that she blesses us with delicious potatoes that no one can ever resist. Just kidding, we are so blessed by mother nature that it helps mothers like me to fix happy meals for her kids in no time :) Fry it, roast it, bake it, mash it ... anyway you try, it will sure make a pleasant hit at the table. Kids and elders everyone loves it but we sure restrict thinking about the calories we might put on. Its ok for kids once in a while to enjoy their favorite snack in their favorite way.My kids are so much in love with this that they ask for it every time we go out. So its a favorite timepass anywhere around.
I dont add too many spices to this recipe as it calls for little ones every time to be the fool-proof testers ;) You can pick to add whatever spices you like to bring out your favorite flavors. We love garlic and cumin so I have stuck to that for a while now. Here is my simple, easy to make, fool-proof, yum-yum recipe that will help your kiddos enjoy their snack time in a happily yummy way
Chunky vegetables ... oh yes thats what my kids love and they are best for the nutrition they need to keep growing the healthy way. A simple way to get them what they love but without any additional pour of spices or extras is this beautiful tireless recipe. This recipe just came out of the want for my kids to eat their veggies. They always ask me - Niks says "Mommy... big vegetable sticks plssssssss...' and Aadit says "Veggie veggie veggie" and that is what makes this recipe an always welcomed recipe for us.
A very simple way to put together a few little things to get in those most needed minerals and vitamins. Give it a try to get your kids to become real veggie lovers
Mixture is my dad's favorite and now my in-laws favourite too. It is a must for Diwali and my mom never fails to make it. She is perfect and she is the best cook I know in whatever she cooks. I have followed or atleast tried to follow my moms footsteps when it comes to cooking certain food
This mixture is such an addiction that I had to make it too in my kitchen. Evr since I have had a kitchen of my own, I have been making this every Diwali. It tastes great with a subtle touch of spice unlike the store bought ones which I feel like are loaded with too much stuff. Keeping it simple and tasty is the mantra here
